Chap. VII. 
THE RACES OF MAH* 
235 
languages, some philologists have inferred that when 
man first became widely diffused he was not a speaking 
animal; but it may be suspected that languages, far 
less perfect than any now spoken, aided by gestures, 
might have been used, and yet have left no traces 
on subsequent and more highly -developed tongues. 
Without the use of some language, however imperfect, 
it appears doubtful whether man’s intellect could have 
risen to the standard implied by his dominant position 
at an early period. 
Whether primeval man, when he possessed very few 
arts of the rudest kind, and when his power of language 
was extremely imperfect, would have deserved to be 
called man, must depend on the definition which we 
employ. In a series of forms graduating insensibly 
from some ape-like creature to man as he now exists, 
it would be impossible to fix on any definite point when 
the term “ man ” ought to be used. But this is a matter 
of very little importance. So again it is almost a 
matter of indifference whether the so-called races of 
man are thus designated, or are ranked as species 
or sub-species; but the latter term appears the most 
appropriate. Finally, we may conclude that when 
the principles of evolution are generally accepted, as 
they surely will be before long, the dispute between the 
monogenists and the polygenists will die a silent and 
unobserved death. 
One other question ought not to be passed over 
without notice, namely, whether, as is sometimes 
assumed, each sub-species or race of man has sprung 
from a single pair of progenitors. With our domestic 
animals a new race can readily be formed from a single 
pair possessing some new character, or even from a 
single individual thus characterised, by carefully match- 
